Thursday, April 19, 2007

Emma and I went exploring up Ladd Canyon today, in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. It's at the south end of the Grande Ronde Valley, the same area where we cut our Christmas tree last winter. Actually, I went up the same road where we got stuck on the ice during that excursion. The road was much less scary this time!

I was hoping for some wildflowers, and was not disappointed.

Violets (Viola sp.)

Jeffrey's shooting stars (Dodecatheonjeffreyi)

As we climbed in elevation, I noticed that it was getting colder. We started out at about 55F on the valley floor, and by the time we got midway up the mountain, it was down to 38F! And the view was this:

Waves of snow flurries coming over the tops of the hills! It was really cool watching them billow toward me. It didn't stick, but it was fun taking wildflower pictures in the snow. I did wish I had a sweatshirt on, though!

The meadows on sides and tops of the mountains were full of flowers. It's still early- not everything was blooming, but that just means that I'll have to keep going back. The lupines probably still have a month to go.

Larkspur (Delphinium bicolor (?))

not sure

not sure, something lily-ish

paintbrush (Castilleja sp.)

Sagebrush Bluebells (Mertensia longiflora)

Phlox sp.

Western serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

Can you tell I don't have a field guide for the wildflowers of this area yet? I'll be fixing those labels when I'm suitably outfitted. I get all twitchy when I can't put a name to what I see.

It was a really fun outing, despite the fact that Emma was asleep in the backseat nearly the whole time. I couldn't get out and walk around, but at least I scoped out the area for future walks. And it's so very beautiful.